Increased Deployments Ahead for 2009? What to do.

As events heat up around the world and the issues left unresolved in Afghanistan and Iraq, General Casey’s suggestion that military families be prepared for 2 – 3 deployments in the next 10 years seems solid advice.

I recently returned from Louisiana, having been invited as a guest to speak to the 256th Infantry Combat Battalion Brigade who is subject to deploy again in 2009. I had great conversations with many of the soldiers and their spouses – but one particular one stood out. Soldier who had previously served in Iraq was questioning whether or not to re-enlist. When I asked if he was married, his response was alarming, “Wives don’t work with deployments…” when I asked what he meant, he simply stated, “marriages don’t work with deployments.”

The recent increase in military divorces suggests he may be on to something. Knowing that today’s events will not decrease deployments, families need to go into deployments better prepared. Two suggested first steps:

1. Take an assessment of your current relationship. Find out where you are strong and where you have growth areas, start by taking the Couple Checkup (email for free code), then set up a game plan with a qualified marriage coach to move those growth areas into strength areas.

2. Build your support network now. The marriages that make it seem to have both strong family and friend support. Don’t wait to build this network.